Psalm57:1      Have mercy on me, O God, havemercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadowof your wings until the disaster has passed.

I canremember my old pastor preaching part of this psalm to me when I was abouttwelve years old. It left me confused, not because of what he said, which wasall about security and refuge in God, but because of the mistaken image that I hadconcocted from what the psalmist wrote. You see I tried to picture God havingwings, but I couldn’t decide whether they were the soft, white wings like adove, or the mighty, golden wings of an eagle.

My problemarose because I was trying to interpret the Bible verse literally. I got sohung up on picturing g the image that I missed what was really important in thepsalm – that of knowing God as my refuge in times of trouble.

I alsofell for the same mistake when I was at seminary. This time it wasn’t the wingsthat caused my confusion, it was the shadow of the wings. I reasoned that inorder for a shadow to be produced, light has to be behind and above the objectin order to cast it on the ground. “How could anything be above and behindGod?” I argued. Again, I was taking the text too literally and just using itfor the sake of debating with my professors and peers.

The Biblehelps us to understand about who God is and how He intervenes in our lives. However,if we take the scriptures too literally, as in the case of this image, then we willmiss the point altogether. The Bible guides us towards God and reveals to usHis plan of salvation through Christ. It is sacred and gives us a betterunderstanding of the holiness, power, and grace of God, but the Bible is notmeant to be fanatically idolized or worshiped like God.

Pointto ponder: What biblical images of God mean something special to me?

Prayer: Lord God, when we take refuge in the shadow ofYour wings, we know that it means we can find a haven and sanctuary in You. Aswe rely upon You for everything in our lives, encourage us to read more fromthe Bible, so that we can learn more about You in order to faithfully andthankfully worship You. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

JohnStuart is a Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.